It’s drilled into our brains that the average diet should be around 2,000 calories per day. It seemed simple enough, right? However, each body is a little bit different. If you’re taller or have a lot of muscle mass, you may require more than 2,000 calories per day, or if you’re a little bit smaller, you may require less. Additionally, if you exercise a lot, you are going to require more calories than if you have a more sedentary lifestyle. If the goal is weight loss, you may have been told that you need to be in a calorie deficit, which, put in simple terms, is when you consume fewer calories than what your body needs to carry out its functions. This is true – if you are seeking weight loss, you are going to want to take in fewer calories so the body uses its own body fat to carry out its needs. But a healthy diet is more than just calories-in-calories-out. We explain everything you need to know about a healthy weight-loss diet. How do you know if you are in a calorie deficit? As mentioned above, the recommended 2,000-calorie diet is just an average estimate and isn’t personalized to body size or activity level. Some nutritionists like to use the Mifflin-St. Jeor Equation to determine the calorie deficit that works best for the individual person. This equation takes into account gender, weight, height, age and activity level to determine one’s resting metabolic rate. You can check out this calculator to determine your resting metabolic rate, and what calorie deficit may work for you. What you need to know about caloriesA calorie deficit does not automatically mean it’s healthy. You could eat 1,500 calories worth of brownies – and you may even lose weight. But you may not get the essential nutrients needed for the health of your Julie Chen, an internal medicine physician with Kaiser Permanente in Gaithersburg, Maryland, says, to safely lose weight, it's most important to make smart food are her tipsInclude a variety of whole grains, vegetables, fruits and dried beans for essential nutrients and high-calorie, low nutrient value options like sweets, energy drinks and water instead – try flavoring it with fruit or mint for a refreshing fats, especially in processed foods and less butter, margarine, salad dressing and flavors with fresh garlic, pepper, lemon or lean or low-fat meats and dairy out for fat-free treats with high sugar and calorie content. Practice moderation.” What about dieting?Dr. Blanca Lizaola-Mayo, MD, a transplant hepatologist liver doctor and the Medical Director of the Liver Transplant Center at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona is an expert on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease NAFLD and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis NASH. The first line of treatment against these diseases is lifestyle modifications like diet and exercise. Read more about diet, weight loss hereMore exercise, fewer calories? Weight loss is more complicated than experts weigh in 'Mud' drinks and 'greens powders' are all over social media. What you need to much water do you really need? On social media, people are drinking a gallon a apple cider vinegar help with weight loss?The health benefits explained.